


Branches of the same tree

by Dyn



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam needs a hug, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chronic Illness, Everyone Needs A Hug, Father-Son Relationship, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Sick Character, Sick Keith (Voltron), Sickfic, adam is a good parent/brother/father figure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29952468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dyn/pseuds/Dyn
Summary: Keith fails to show up to a piloting demonstration which angers Shiro. All that anger leaves him when he sees that Keith is sick. It is made worse when the diagnosis comes in.
Relationships: Adam & Keith (Voltron), Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea at night and was slightly sad to see no one else had written it. I decided to write a fic where Keith has the same illness as Shiro, but with more noticeable symptoms and a faster progression rate because i'm evil like that.

Keith was having a horrid nightmare when the banging on his door started. Keith woke up with a gasp that led him into a coughing fit. He felt dazed as he could only feel the pain. His muscles felt like they were on fire and his chest was hurting from the strain of his coughing fit. He snapped out of it when the banging continued. The slams continued to get louder and louder before Keith heard a voice from the other side. "Open the door Keith!" Keith recognized the voice as Shiro's and he sounded mad. Keith's first instinct was to hide under his covers like a small child, but he knew that when he was found he would be in even more trouble. Keith managed to get up on both legs and slowly walked over to the door. His dorm room was small but his legs were shaking so badly the small distance from the bed to the door took him nearly a minute. When he finally managed to open the door he got his first look at Shiro. To say Shiro was mad would be an understatement. He was absolutely furious. Keith was supposed to have met Shiro at the piloting simulators in order to demonstrate to the other officers at the Garrison what Keith had learned in his first 6 months with Shiro. Keith missed the demonstration due to him sleeping in. Keith had managed to catch a glimpse of the clock on the wall. It was now 4:00 pm. Keith only had a second to think about the fact that he slept through the entire day before he was met with Shiro's angered face.

"Where the fuck were you?" Shiro shouted as he pushed his way through the door. Keith recoiled at the harsh language. Shiro never used swear words. Tears began to well up in Keith's eyes at the thought of disappointing Shiro. "If you didn't want to do the demonstration I get it but you couldn't even tell me you weren't going to show up. Do you realize the position you put me in?" Shiro shouted with his back facing Keith. Shiro whipped his head around only to be met with Keith's face of pure despair. Heavy teardrops fell from Keith's round, child like face. Snot covered his pyjama sleeves and his socks were mismatched. Shiro immediately regretted his words when he was given a harsh reminder that Keith was still just a child and that children made mistakes. Shiro further regretted his words when he took an even closer look at the kid. The child's skin was pale with the exception of his cheeks that were a bright red. His nightshirt was drenched in sweat and there was a slight tremor in his movements. “Keith buddy, can you hear me?” Shiro started as he reeled in his anger. Keith was still shaking but managed to look at Shiro. He knew that with his earlier outburst he would need to be careful with how he handled Keith. “I’m going to take your temperature, is that okay?” Keith hesitated and did a slow nod. Shiro got up to get the thermometer from the first aid kit that comes in every Garrison dorm room. Shiro suddenly heard a thud as Keith tipped over. Shiro ran to the child’s side and carefully picked the boy up and cradled him. Shiro didn’t even need the thermometer as he could feel the heat coming from the child. Keith looked up at Shiro with unseeing eyes before they rolled into the back of his head as he passed out. Shiro picked the child up and ran for the infirmary without a second thought.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Adam was in the teachers common room when he got a frantic call from Shiro. Adam excused himself for a second from a rather boring conversation with another teacher to take the call only to be met with his boyfriend’s panicked voice from the other end. Between Shiro’s frantic breathing he managed to figure out what happened. Keith was sick. Adam honestly thought Shiro was overreacting. Shiro’s fondness for the child was no secret. It wasn’t that Adam didn’t care for the kid as well. Adam saw the kid as the child he never had, but that doesn’t mean he wraps the boy up in bubble wrap and coddles him over a single cough. Of course Adam wasn’t there with Shiro. He didn’t know how bad it was. Neither of them knew how bad it was going to get.

Shiro was sitting in the waiting area with his head in his hands. Adam approached his boyfriend and sat in the empty seat beside him. “Takashi” Adam started. Shiro looked up at Adam. Shiro’s eyes had a sad glint in them but no tears thankfully. Adam hates the sight of Shiro crying. “Keith will be alright sweetie” Adam said with certainty in his voice. Shiro didn’t look like he believed it, but still calmed down a little bit. Adam was here with him so he knows he will at least have someone he can depend on. Shiro caught Adam up to date with the current events. When Shiro got to the infirmary with Keith in tow they took Keith away in a stretcher. They ignored Shiro’s heartbroken pleas to go with him. Adam listened to every bit of it. As soon as Shiro finished they were alerted by a nurse. “Are you the guardians of Keith Kogane?” the nurse asked. Both Shiro and Adam perked their heads up at the question. Shiro confirmed they are and the nurse nodded her head to confirm she had heard their response. The nurse led the pair through the double doors and around a corner into a room with a very sick looking Keith resting on the paper covered table. The nurse caught them up to date. She told the pair that Keith just had a cold. Shiro immediately responded. “How can a cold make a child pass out?” The nurse hesitated before giving the unsatisfactory answer of “I don’t know.” She recommended that they take Keith in for blood work when Keith was feeling better in order to see if there is anything wrong with the child’s immune system. Shiro was beyond anxious. He knew there was a possibility that something terribly wrong could be happening, but they can’t know for certain right now because Keith was too sick to even get tested. Shiro felt like he was going to be sick until he felt Adam’s hand on his back. The man always knew how to calm him down with just a single touch. The nurse recommended that Keith doesn’t go back to his dorm room and instead stay with Shiro and Adam. Usually Keith only stays with them on the weekends and goes back to his dorm on monday morning, but they are flexible and won’t say no to spending more time with the kid. They were instructed to watch over him for any changes and to bring him back to the infirmary if his fever goes up or he passes out again. They told the pair that common cold medicine should be used to keep the symptoms away. After the lecture on what to do they were given the go ahead to take Keith. Shiro and Adam walked over to the kid sleeping on the table. They tried for a whole minute to wake Keith up with gentle nudges and soft words, but eventually Shiro just picked the kid up carefully so he wouldn't wake him. Keith remained asleep all the way to the elevator that led the couples shared apartment at the upper level of the Garrison. As the elevator went up Keith woke up. The moment his eyes opened he started to cry. Shiro and Adam tried to calm the child down with soft words, but he was just too sick to actually pay any attention to the pair. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of Keith’s crying echoed around the long hall filled with doors. Shiro and Adam quickly rushed to their front door and unlocked it with Adam’s key card. The door unlocked and they rushed into the apartment. The Garrison had apartments for high ranking members on the top floor and Shiro and Adam were lucky enough to score one. The apartment was always too modern for Adam as he usually preferred the suburban homes, but he knew he shouldn’t complain. The apartment was neither small nor large. The kitchen, dining area, and living room were all connected in one room with a breakfast bar separating the living and dining areas. There was a hallway that had three doors. Two bedrooms and one bathroom. Shiro quickly ran into Keith’s room with the teen still cradled close. Keith was put onto his bed and Adam quickly went to retrieve some things to help the poor kid. Shiro stayed by Keith’s bedside while Adam was away. Keith slowly stopped crying as he fell asleep. Adam came back minutes later with a water basin, rag, and thermometer. At this very moment Shiro was very thankful that he had Adam by his side. Adam put down the water basin next to the bed and Shiro took the rag. He dipped the rag into the water and wrung it out so it wouldn’t drip. The wet rag was put onto Keith's head. Keith started whimpering but was easily soothed with a few kind words. If there was one thing Shiro hated the most about this situation it would be Keith’s complete change in personality. The normally independent boy was now entirely dependent on Shiro and Adam to take care of him. As the damp rag placed on Keith’s forehead warmed up from the boy’s body heat, Shiro took the rag and placed it back in the cool basin. The rag was properly wrung out once again and placed on the child’s forehead. Keith let out a whimper and for a moment Shiro feared that the boy would start crying again. Thankfully the teen remained silent with the only sound being his heavy breathing. Keith let out a few nasty coughs and whimpered but remained asleep. Shiro looked over at the clock on Keith’s bedside table. They left the infirmary at around 6:00 and now the clock read 9:00. Adam left the room for a bit at some point to make dinner. Thirty minutes later Adam came through the door with three bowls of soup and a water bottle on a platter. Adam gave one to Shiro and kept the other two on the platter that was now placed on Keith’s bedside table. “We need to get him fed. I doubt he had anything to eat today.” Shiro agreed silently and watched as Adam started to comb his hands through Keith’s sweaty hair to keep the long bangs out of the boy’s face. Shiro gently nudged the child awake. “Keith buddy do you think you eat a little bit?” Keith winced as he opened his eyes a little bit. It wasn’t bright in the room but it was enough to hurt Keith’s tired eyes. Keith realized as his stomach growled that he was starving. The teen managed a small nod in response to Shiro’s earlier question. “ Here, drink some water” Adam said quietly as he brought up the water bottle to Keith’s mouth. Shiro was checking to make sure the soup wasn’t too hot as Keith drank a little bit of water. As soon as Keith was done Adam propped the boy up and Shiro handed him the soup. Keith thanked the pair as he tried to bring a spoonful of the warm soup to his lips. The teens hands were shaking so badly that Shiro was afraid that Keith would spill the contents of the bowl on his lap. “Do you need any help with that?” Adam asked, sharing the same concern as Shiro. Keith gave up on trying to get the spoon to his lips. Adam took that as a silent response and took the bowl from Keith. He man wordlessly took a spoonful of the warm liquid and brought it up to Keith's lips. Keith swallowed the soup and was able to hold down a few more spoonfuls before he felt it rise back up. Shiro instantly realized what Keith’s sudden panic meant and quickly brought a small plastic trash can to the boy's mouth right before he emptied the contents of his stomach. Adam brought his hand up to the child's back in a soothing manner. When it was all done Shiro set the trash can aside. He got the boy to clean his mouth with water as Adam left the room. Keith was crying at the unpleasant feeling while Shiro did his best to comfort him. Adam soon came back with a piece of white bread on a paper plate along with some pills and another bottle of water. “I think the soup might have been a little too rich for you.” Adam started as he handed Keith the bread. “Eat this so you can take the pills.” Keith started to weakly protest. “Keith you can’t take these pills on an empty stomach.” Keith eventually gave up and ate the piece of bread and took a sip of water. The boy was then handed the pills along with the new bottle of water. Keith swallowed the pills without any protests thankfully and fell asleep. They would need to keep an eye on Keith tonight. Shiro and Adam grabbed their forgotten bowls of soup and headed to the kitchen. Adam put his bowl of soup in the microwave to heat it up again. Shiro still looked worried. Adam went up to his boyfriend’s side and put a hand on his shoulder. “Everything will be alright Takashi.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fic and I would be really happy to read any comments.


End file.
